Incertitude
by Karretje
Summary: This story will contain the whole family and is about their perspective on a very serious matter. Mostly about Callie, no Braille or teenage drama. Not for the light hearted, genre best described is thriller, suspense and drama.
1. Chapter 1

**I was back on FF for a new chapter of an existing story when I found this story on my computer. It was written quit a while ago and back then I didn't dare to post it. Not because it isn't good (I don't know, that's for you to decide) but more because it isn't the average FF story or The Fosters story. It isn't happy or full with teen drama, it is more dark an frankly a bit scary. It's is actually lightly based on a book I had to read in High School and it never left my thoughts because it was so intense. Then one day watching The Fosters I just though it would be a good decor for a new story. So please don't read it if you only like to read lighter stuff.**

 **The story is finished, I am only going through the chapters for the finishing touch, but I will try to post a chapter a day. It isn't a long story, only 6** **chapters and so far I am not planning to write a sequel. Just so you know :)**

* * *

 _It was early in the morning when he folded his newspaper and got up from the breakfast table. Except for two backpacks and the remaining of their breakfast the kitchen was ultra clean, just as he liked it. His wife always made sure of it. His children came running down the stairs after brushing their teeth and kissed their mother on the cheek before grabbing their backpacks. He himself kissed his wife and wished her a good day. As he walked over to his car and the kids climbed in the backseat he turned around to his wife who stood now in the doorway. Just as every morning she waved them goodbye and wishing them a good day and a safe journey. As he backed out of the driveway he gave a last glimpse to the woman he loved with his whole hart. And with his beautiful son and daughter in the backseat he drove off to bring them to school and go to work. Life was good to him and he was looking forward to today. Today especially was going to be great._

* * *

Stef was staring out of the window of their vehicle. Mike was driving around while she scanned the neighborhood for irregularities. A young boy was riding his bike on the sidewalk, criss crossing through the pedestrian. A man and a woman were arguing in front of a small store and a woman was comforting a small crying child. But most people were talking on their phone and not noticing their surroundings. People rarely do these days, they are either to busy talking or texting on their phone or listening to music. For the police the good thing about this was that everyone carried around a camera snapping pictures or making films that they later could use for evidence. However, it also had proven that there were less witnesses of crimes. The people simply noticed less because they are more engrossed with their phones.  
Today was a slow day for them. They had to assist here and there, but nothing seriously. So they were enjoying the quiet and sat silently but comfortable next to each other. Then suddenly out of nowhere, with another hour to go on their shift, Stef felt an suffocating pressure arise on her chest, a heavy feeling that something was up. It was as if someone had squeezed her heart and it made her feel sick and cold to the bone. She quickly tried to recomposed herself and looked around on the street to see if her subconscious had caught something that had disturbed her. However there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked. He had noticed the change in his partner and ex-wife behavior.

"Just going to check in with everyone." Stef replied as she pulled out her cell phone, she had a few drops of sweat on her forehead and they were not from the heat. The pressure on her chest was already fading, but the uncomfortable feeling was still lingering around. She knew she couldn't relax until she knew everyone was okay.

— Just a check in, how is everyone? — Stef texted out to her family. It was just after 5 o'clock and that would mean that Lena was still working. But she almost instantly got a reply back from her.

— I'm fine, honey. Are you okay? —.

And then one from Jude. — Doing homework over at Conner's, see you tonight mom! —.

Stef quickly answered them both back before she turned her attention on their surroundings once more.

"What's going on Stef?" Mike sighed and looked over at Stef.

"I don't know, I just had the urge to check in on everyone. It's a mother thing Mike, forget about it." She replied, trying to shrug the unease away.

"And are they fine?" Mike continued at the same moment another bleep came from Stef's phone.

—Chill mom, I'm fine. Just done with training, I'll be on my way home soon.— Stef had to laugh at Jesus his text, he had known she was worried.

Mariana was probable not done with practice either or else she would have replied by now, Stef knew. So she decided to send her wife another text.

—Jude is over at Conner's house and Jesus will be on his way home soon, do you know where the others are hanging out?— Stef typed as she perfectly knew that she was throwing her worries now on her wife as well. It wasn't difficult to get Lena worried.

—Mariana is still practicing with Tia and the group, I just passed by her. Brandon drove Callie to group therapy she will be home around 6.15. Brandon is probably practicing his music. I'm sure they are all fine, Stef.— Lena replied with a smiley on the end.

Although the uneasy feeling didn't disappear, she stuffed them away so she could do her job and finish up her shift. There was no reason to panic, this was just a normal day as others.

* * *

As it was nearly 6 o'clock Brandon was still driving around aimlessly. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been, especially over something that silly. He knew his moms would be pissed at him and he wasn't looking forward to going home. But it wasn't the only reason he didn't want to go home, he knew very well he had screwed up twice today. Maybe it was better if he was going to his father first, he thought. It was easier to tell his father what he had done then telling his mother. His father had made many mistakes in his life, so he wasn't going to judge him the way his mother would. His mother had surely made mistakes, however it still seemed to him that she was perfect. Maybe it was her confidence in almost everything that made her look so perfect. As he was waiting for a red light to turn green he glanced over his phone once more. He hadn't replied to his mom's text, he just couldn't. Was his mom aware of what had happened or was it a freaky coincidence that she had texted him seconds after what he had done, he thought to himself. While he was driving towards the next intersection he had convinced himself to go home. It would make things only worse if he stayed away. And maybe there was nothing to tell, nothing to confess. Maybe no one noticed and no one talked. The closer Brandon came to his home the more he started to believed it himself.

* * *

"Hey honey." came Lena's greeting from the kitchen as Stef closed the front door behind her. Stef walked to the kitchen to give her wife a kiss.

"Is everyone home?" Stef asked her, the feeling that something was wrong never completely disappeared, although it wasn't as strong as before.

"I don't know, I just arrived home minutes before you did, I had a meeting." Lena answered her. With that said, they heard loud footsteps thundering down the stairs.

"Good you're home, I'm starving." Jesus said while he stormed into the kitchen.

"Is everyone home already?" Lena asked her son while she checked if the oven was warm enough. She had prepared dinner the other night so it would be ready within thirty minutes.

"Mariana and Callie are in their room and Jude is in ours. I haven't seen Brandon yet though." Jesus replied while giving a peek at what would be served.

Just as Stef was grabbing her phone to see where her son was, Brandon walked in the house through the backdoor.

"Sorry I'm late." Brandon said without looking up to his mothers, which they didn't missed. Stef gave Lena a glance before she spoke.

"What have you been up to.?" She asked him.

"Oh, eh, nothing much. Just, you know, driving around a bit." Brandon said a bit hesitantly while he was putting his stuff away.

"Did something happened?" Lena asked him in a soft voice, while Stef gave him a stern look.

"Well, ehm, well maybe…" Brandon started, but he was saved with the sound of more footsteps coming down the stairs and within a few seconds three more teenagers stepped into the kitchen.  
Stef immediately forgot about their conversation and stared upon the three kids.

"Where is Callie?" she asked while looking at Mariana.

"I don't know, haven't seen her since school was out. Emma and I have been studying in my room since we came home." Mariana said as she pointed to her friend Emma who stood right beside her and next to Jude.

Stef then glanced at Jesus silently asking him for an explanation, when he shrugged.

"I heard two girls, I just assumed it was Mariana and Callie." He replied.

"Okay, she is just 30 minutes late, she'll be home any second now." Lena said nervously. But she and Stef knew that Callie always came home straight away from group therapy.

"You drove her to therapy right?" Stef turned around to Brandon and remembered then that there was something going on with their son.

"Eh" he hesitated. "No, I didn't. she went by herself." Brandon confessed and looked down at his shoes. Stef was already calling Callie, however within seconds she put the phone down from her ear.

"It's off." She simply stated and while she was considering what to do next she saw Lena grabbing her cell phone and dialing a number.

"Hi this is Lena Adams, Callie's mother. I was just calling to check if Callie showed up today at therapy. Yes, okay. So you haven't seen or heard from her? Thank you. No I'm sure she is fine. Bye." Lena talked to Callie's therapist.

Stef felt the color on her face disappear, and as she looked into her wife's eyes she saw the same fear she was feeling.

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 **Please leave me a message with your thoughts on this if you want, I will post the next chapter somewhere tomorrow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I am really amazed how many readers I got on last chapters and how many positive reactions you gave me. As promised, here is the next chapter. P.s. this story was written a while ago, so Brandon was still with Lou.**

* * *

 _It was lunch time when he sat outside eating his lunch while enjoying the sunlight on his face. He came here regularly and it was one his favorite places. It was always quiet here, even though he wasn't alone and there were more people in the park. He took another bite of his sandwich while he thought back to his morning. He had known it was going to be a good day and so far he wasn't disappointed. Only an hour after he had arrived his boss came over to compliment him on his recent work. His boss didn't easily give out compliments, so he had a big smile on his face the entire morning. He had been so happy about it that he called his wife immediately after his boss left his desk. But how good the morning had been, it was nothing compared to how great his afternoon and evening would be. Tonight, when he would step into his bed and give his wife a goodnight kiss he knew his life couldn't be better. After so long, he couldn't believe it was finally going to happen._

* * *

"Brandon, you need to tell us what's going on!" Stef practically screamed."Why didn't you take her and where is she?" She continued.

"Stef calm down." Lena cut in. "Why don't you just start at the beginning Brandon?" Lena asked Brandon.

"Well, after school when we took off to therapy we were a bit early. So I thought it would be nice to go for ice cream on the way there." Brandon started. He looked up to his mom with an apologetic look.

"Okay, go on." Lena encouraged him.

"So we were at the ice cream place and just talking about I don't know what and suddenly we were arguing about something stupid." Brandon continued while staring at his hands.

"What were you arguing about?" Stef asked her eldest son.

"I don't really know how we came to the subject, but it landed on Lou. At first she was teasing me a bit, but then it became an uncomfortable conversation and I said something stupid." Brandon was still looking at his hands.

"Well, what did you say?" Stef said while she impatiently looked at the clock. It was nearing seven now and Callie still wasn't home. As Brandon didn't continue immediately Stef wanted to jump back in, however Lena lay a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. But Stef felt from Lena's hand that she was just as tensed.

"I said that it was okay if she felt jealous. That I would understand it if she was envy of our relationship." Brandon said with clear regret in his voice.

"Okay…" Stef said, she understood it would have pissed Callie off, but didn't explain why she wasn't home yet.

"But that's not it. Callie was taken aback by my comment and told me that she thought I knew that she wasn't feeling like that at all anymore. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut, I didn't thought about it and I surely didn't mean it." Brandon took a pause before he spilled the last bit.

"I told her that it was okay if she still felt like that because we were not really family." Brandon lay his face in his hands. He had known right away that these words were the worst for Callie to hear from him.

"She jumped up and asked me to leave her alone." He ended his confession.

"And that was the last you heard or saw from her?" Lena asked him while she lay her hand on his. "Yes, after a couple of minutes I decided to go after her, but I couldn't find her anymore. I didn't knew which way she had chosen to walk to therapy." Brandon replied.

Stef turned around to their other children.

"Well, if Callie would be upset, where do you think she would turn to?" Stef asked them.

"The drop-inn centre!" Jude almost yells.

Lena, who had her phone still on the table grabbed it and dialed Rafael's number. However with only a few words spoken they found out that he hadn't heard from Callie either.

"Alright, Brandon, you and I will take a drive in the direction of the therapy center. Lena, you can take Jude and maybe check the beach?" Stef asked her wife, who jumped immediately in action.

"Mariana, Jesus, I want you two to stay home and keep calling Callie. If you hear anything call me." Stef ordered them.

"Maybe we should call Wyatt, I know they aren't really speaking, but you never know." Mariana said, she was now worried as well.

"Good honey, you do that. I will call Mike and ask if he can pass by Girls United. He lives close by." Stef continued as she grabbed her phone and keys.

"Call if you hear anything." Stef reminded her family once more before closing the door behind them.

Just as Stef wanted to step into the drivers seat her eye fell on a big dent on her side of the car.

"Brandon…" She started while looking over the car into her sons eyes.

"That's a story for later." He said defeatedly. He had confessed enough for now.

* * *

Lena was driving around for what felt like hours. She and Jude had checked the beach thoroughly, but except for some joggers and a few couples holding hands, the beach was empty. She then drove to the drop-in centre to make sure Callie really hadn't shown up, but just as Rafael had told her on the phone he hadn't heard from her. Mariana had also called in to tell that Wyatt hadn't seen her. However he was willing to help and was now driving around as well.

"Hey buddy, can you think of a place where Callie would be?" Lena asked while she stopped the car at the side of the road, not knowing what to do next. He silently shook his head while staring out of the window.

"Jude, I know you are worried, but everything will be…" Lena told him, but couldn't finish her sentence as Jude intervened.

"Everything will be what? Fine? Don't give out a promise like that. I can see how worried you are, so don't say it unless you believe it yourself." Jude started his sentence yelling, but ended defeatedly with his head against the window again, staring outside. Before Lena could reply to him her phone started to ring and she saw Stef's picture on the screen. With a lump in her throat she answered the phone.

"Hey Stef, do you have anything?" Lena said quickly, both eager and scared of what she would hear. It was getting dark outside now and the thought of her daughter on the streets was scaring her.

"No nothing. Her phone is still off. Mike talked to Rita, but she has no clue either. I also called Daphne, but no luck there as well. I'm going to meet Mike at the station, I have asked some guys there to the check her phone, they are on it now. Maybe you should go home to the twins." Stef informed Lena. Her voice sounded so off that Lena just wanted to cry.

"Alright honey, call me when you need or hear anything." Lena replied to her wife before hanging up. She looked over at Jude when she turned the key in the ignition. Jude was now looking right at her.

"There is no news. Mom is going to the police station. From there they can trace Callie's phone." Lena told him. Her voice was a bit shaking and as soon as she had said it Jude's shoulders slumped down and he let himself fall back against the window without saying a word. Lena looked into her rearview mirror and drove off in the direction of home.

* * *

Mariana looked out of the window with her phone in her hand. She was scanning the streets for Callie to come home or her mothers to return with Callie.

"Do you think she ran away?" She asked her twin brother.

"Why else wouldn't she be home by now. I mean it's a school night and Callie usually doesn't break curfew." Jesus answered her. He was trying to be nonchalant, however he was pacing nervously up and down the living room.

"I think running away is also breaking curfew." Mariana replied back, frowning at him.

"But I don't believe that she would run away, not again. She knows the impact it had, plus there is simply no reason for her to run away. At least not over a stupid comment from Brandon" She said, while she turned her face back to the streets.

"Well, if I have learned anything from girls the last year, it is that they don't need a reason to behave irrational at all." He said, receiving a frown from his sister again.

"Besides, if she didn't ran away, then where is she?" Jesus said, not so much to Mariana but more to himself.

"I don't know." Mariana sighed. "But I have a bad feeling about this." she added. They stayed quiet for a while. Suddenly the phone rang and within seconds Mariana answered.

"Hey mama, any news?" Mariana asked instantly.

"Okay, right. No nothing. See you in a minute then." Mariana finished off her conversation with Lena in a matter of seconds.

"Mama and Jude are on their way home. They haven't found anything." Mariana said while she let herself fall into a chair. To tired to stand any longer at the windows.

"What about Mom and Brandon?" Jesus asked his sister.

"I don't know." Mariana sighed and they both sat quietly waiting for their mother to return home.

* * *

Stef parked her car in the parking lot of the police station where she worked. As soon as the car stood still she turned the ignition off and jumped out of the car.

"Come and stay with me B." Stef said while she marched to the entrance.

Brandon was running after his mom to keep up. She knew he was scared and that he felt guilty for what he had said and for not driving Callie to therapy, but she didn't had time to comfort him or talk to him about what else was bothering him. For example the dent in the car. She just couldn't deal with that now. She needed to know her daughter was fine and feel her safe in her arms. And after that she would probably ground her for life. Maybe even put a leash on her.

Once when she and Lena had taken Brandon, Jesus and Mariana to Disneyland she saw two small children who were on a special kiddy leash and while everyone looked at the parents and judging them, she had only looked at them in envy and wishing Jesus was young enough to wear a leash like that. They had already lost him twice and it was only 11.30 in the morning. She had learned really quickly into motherhood that the scariest thing is not knowing where your children are.

As soon as Stef and Brandon stepped into the station everyone looked over at Stef with pity on their faces. Stef ignored them and scanned around looking for Mike. It didn't take long for her to spot him. He was on the other side of the room talking to Captain Roberts while drinking a coffee. Stef quickly grabbed Brandon by his arm and walked across the room towards her partner and boss.

"Mike, please tell me you've got something." Stef pleaded while she was approaching him. Mike looked a bit uncomfortable and before he could say anything Captain Roberts intervened.

"Let's find a more private room to talk, Stef. Brandon can wait here by your desk." She said while pointing Stef into the direction she wanted to go.

"No, I can't leave him." Stef begged. She wasn't keen on leaving her son out of her sight.

"He'll be fine Stef. He won't be alone." Captain Roberts said sternly and together with Mike they walked into the Captains office.

"Stef, as soon as we heard what was going on I put some guys on tracking your daughter." Captain Roberts said while they all took a seat. Mike sat next to Stef and took her hand. From his face Stef could tell that he already new what she was now going to hear.

"They wanted to turn her phone back on since that is the easiest way of tracking the phone, however they weren't successful. Which could mean that the phone is broken or that battery has been taken out." Captain Roberts continued while she looked straight at Stef.

"They have now traced Callie's cell phone to the point where it went down. I send two detective, with back up, to check the neighborhood. I'm waiting for them to report in." Captain Roberts finished her update.

"Where are they?" Stef asked immediately. "I want to go over there to." She pleaded when she saw from the Captains face that she was going to say no.

"That's not a good idea Stef. You and Mike should wait here with Brandon . They are good detectives and we will know more soon." Captain Roberts said with sympathy.

"Detective Brody and Detective Miller are on it Stef." Mike said to comfort her.

"You know their reputation, they will find her. Probably soon and you can give Callie a lecture for the rest of her teenage years." Mike said. He was still holding her hand.

"I know it is hard, but we can only wait now." Roberts said while she stood up.

"You stay here, I will get Brandon to stay with you. Use my phone to call your wife if you want. Maybe it's better if your phone stays available for Callie to call." Roberts said while walking out of her office to find Brandon. Stef looked at the clock and saw it was 21.45 already. It had been almost 5 hours since she felt that something was wrong. 5 hours and they still hadn't heard anything from Callie. Her throat was dry and she felt the tears prickle in her eyes and took a deep breath to stay calm. Brandon joined them and looked up at her and Mike with questions in his eyes. Stef shook her head.

"Nothing yet, Love." She said while she took his hands.

Twenty minutes later Captain Roberts walked back into her office.

"Brandon, can you get some water for us from the canteen?" Roberts said to Brandon. Brandon got up slowly and walked out of the office giving his parents a worried glance.

"Yeah, I'll be right back." He said and Roberts closed the door behind him. Stef felt cold and warm at the same time. She wanted to scream to her boss to just tell her the news, but she knew no sound would come out of her. Roberts took place behind her desk again and looked very serious, first at Mike and then at Stef.

"Detective Miller just called me." She started before she took a deep breath and continued.

"They have found Callie's backpack, her phone was in it. They told me to proceed this investigation as a criminal case." Roberts said.  
Stef closed her eyes as soon as the words hit her. Her biggest nightmare just became reality.

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 **I know, I know, another cliffhanger. This story just can't be without cliffhangers. Next update will be tomorrow hopefully. If you will, let me know your thoughts. I am always curious about them :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again for all views and reviews, I really hadn't expect so many! For the ones who were worried, Liam is not in this story.**

* * *

 _It wasn't time to leave yet, however he couldn't focus anymore. His wife had called earlier to inform him that the kids had a good day at school and that his daughter had aced her math test. He was so proud of her, she was a smart kid with a good sense of humor. She would always crack him up when he brought her to bed at night. She always had a joke ready to tell him before he tugged her in and gave her a big hug and kisses. After his wife called he couldn't stop fantasize about what kind of woman she would grow into. He already knew she would make him proud, she was probably becoming a doctor or a scientist. She was going to make a difference to the world. He looked at his clock again only to realize it was still to early to leave. He must admit that his daughter wasn't the only thing on his mind. Obviously the coming afternoon and evening were in his thoughts as well. He wondered how it would be, he was so excited for it that even his colleagues noticed his good mood. Again he looked at his clock and sighed. Maybe he would just leave a bit earlier as usual. It would mean he had more time, he thought to himself. So with a big smile on his face he packed his stuff together and with only happy thoughts on his mind he left the office and walked over to his car. This was the beginning._

* * *

Stef's heart was beating in her chest uncontrollably. The air was pressed out of her lungs by the news and she was fighting to take a breath of fresh air. She heard Mike and Roberts talk, but the words didn't make sense to her. It wasn't until she felt Mike's arm pulling her into his side that se came to full awareness again. Still fighting for a breath of air she pushed herself out of his arms and got up. She had always learned to stay calm on the job, to think ahead of what needed to be done, but right now she was at loss. She had no idea what to do, should she call Lena?

"Stef." She heard Mike call her and she turned around to face him. He had a certain worried look on his face that she hadn't seen before.

"Stef, I need you to calm and think of what you want to say to Brandon. He will be back any minute now." Mike said to her. Okay, this would be a start, she thought. Let's begin with Brandon.

"Can you take him home Mike?" Stef asked him, her voice was wobbly from the emotions.

"I think it would be for the best if Mike would take both you and Brandon home." Roberts replied.

"There is nothing you can do here, nothing I will let you do, so be with your family. Detective Brody and Miller will come to your house soon to talk to you all. Let them do their job." Robert carefully said to Stef.

She was aware that the protective mother inside her wouldn't give up without a fight. However, just as Stef was about to argue, a knock was heard on the door and Stef knew it would be her son.

"Okay, let's go home. I will texted Lena from the car that we are on our way." Stef said. Her voice had become firmer, however it was still a bit strained.

* * *

Lena was sitting on the couch with Jude on one side and Mariana on the other. Jesus was sitting in front of them on the ground, his back leaning against the couch. It had been silent for a while now, there were no more questions to be asked as all knew there were no answers to give. Lena had fired one question after the other to the kids, hoping to learn something that they had missed. However no one could think of anything. Life had actual become better and easier for Callie lately, she was now truly a part of the family. The kids had fired questions at Lena as well. Mostly the questions were aiming for a comforting answer, for reassurance. Jude had been quiet though, Lena could see the worry and angst in his eyes. She didn't knew if he was mostly worried that something had happened to Callie or if he was afraid that Callie had ran away and abandoned him again. It was always a returning subject for her children, the abandonment issues. And it probably always would be.

"Mama?" Jude softly whispered and Lena quickly put her arm around him to pull him closer to her.

"What is it buddy?" She asked him. She was glad he started to talk, it wouldn't be the first time he would stop talking because it all became to much for him.

"Shouldn't we do something?" He asked while looking up to his mother.

"I know what you mean, Jude. But right know we can not do much more than wait. We just…" Lena said until she was cut off by the sound of a text message coming in. She grabbed her phone to read what it said.

"Mom and Brandon are on their way home." Lena said after she had read the short message.

"Is Callie with them?" Mariana said with a child like hope in her voice. Lena shook her head no.

"I don't think so, mom didn't mention it. She would have mention it if Callie was found." Lena said with much emotion. It was becoming really difficult to stay hopeful. Soon Stef would be home and decisions needed to be make. It was easier to let Stef be in charge at the station. At least then she could pretend that the situation wasn't that serious. It was a kind of denial, she knew that. However the denial was welcome at this moment, otherwise she had to think of all the possibilities.

They sat in silence for what felt like forever when they heard the front door open. All three kids jumped right up from the couch ready to run over to their mom and older brother. However Lena stopped them.

"Let me talk to mom first guys, just wait here for a moment."

They didn't look to happy about that, but after a few seconds they nodded in agreement and took there place again. However, this time Jesus sat at Lena's spot between his twin sister and younger brother. Before Lena could leave the living room Brandon walked into the room. He had a sad and dreadful look on his face. He ignored Lena, who wanted to give him a hug and let his back slide against the wall while he sat down on the floor, close to his brothers and sister. Lena gave him another glance before she strode of to see her wife. She first spotted Mike, he was standing at the doorway. He greeted her without a smile. Stef was still outside and Lena could see she tried to compose herself.

"Stef." Lena called out to her. She needed her to come in and tell what was going on. The incertitude was killing her. However Stef didn't move just jet.

"Stef, please come inside. Please talk to me." Lena pleaded with despair.

This got a reaction from Stef and she slowly walked over to Lena, who was still standing at the doorway with Mike. When Stef reached her, Lena could see the pain on her wife's face. Before Lena could ask her anything Stef crashed into her and sobbed while her whole body shook. Seeing this, Mike stepped away to give them space and walked into the living room to see how the kids were doing.

"Stef, you need to talk to me." Lena asked with her voice all shaken up.

"What is going on, please tell me." Lena pushed her wife away from her and took her hands while looking at her face. Stef took a deep breath and started telling.

"I told you that they were trying to get a signal from Callie's phone, right?" Stef said. Lena nodded yes and for Stef to continue on.

"Well since it was off they needed to turn the cellphone on first. However they couldn't do it. Meaning that the cellphone was either broken or that the battery was taken out." Stef slowly continued with a trembling voice.

"So instead they traced her phone to the last place it was on. Captain Roberts had a team send over to check the area and they…" Stef found it difficult to continue.

"They what?" Lena asked. Her voice was now trembling to. She so desperately wanted to hear from Stef what she knew, however at the same time she just wanted to turn around and go to bed. Forget that this was happening.

"They found Callie's backpack with her phone in it. They told captain Roberts that they were pursuing this case as a criminal case." Stef said with new tears in her eyes, looking straight at her wife to find the same tears there.

"That's all I know so far. The detectives on the case are coming over later tonight." Stef said in full defeat. For a long moment it was quiet and both women stared into nothing, lost in their own thoughts. Lost in what decision to make next. It was quiet until Lena looked up at Stef, scraped her voice to regain strength and said what needed to be said.

"The kids, we need to decide what to tell them."

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 **I know this chapter is short, my apologies for that. I can't promise I will update tomorrow, I don't know if I will be around my computer. But if not I will upload the next chapter on Saturday morning. (Dutch time)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reads, follow/favorite and reviews. Reading your reviews is really awesome! I'm sorry I couldn't upload this chapter yesterday, but here it is.**

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 _It was busy on the streets when he drove through San Diego. He was honestly a bit disappointed at how it started. He had expected it to be more fun and to be more exciting, but there were to many people and cars on the street for him to enjoy it. The weather was good though, he liked that. That worked well for his plans tonight too. He was aiming for midnight, he had so from the moment his fantasy was born and he thought it would be really romantic if that would work out. But there was a lot of preparation to be done. He didn't want to do them before hand. It was actually an internal debate he had for weeks, but he had decided to do it all in one evening. This would be the right way for him._

 _He sighed again as he was nearing his first stop. If he was lucky he would be in and out of the store in 10 minutes. It would then be 16:15 am and he would have enough time before it was midnight._

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Mike was sitting with the children in the living room. Each of them, with the exception of Brandon, was looking at him with questions on their face. They were looking at him for answers. He wouldn't give them though, he couldn't. Not only was it up to Stef and Lena, but there wasn't very much to tell. Nothing good anyway. It felt like hours when they finally entered the room and this caused the children, now including Brandon, to turn their faces towards their moms.

"Could you please tell us now what is going on?" Mariana asked. Her voiced trembled and there were tears welling in her eyes.

It was clear that she was about to cry. Looking over at Stef it was clear that she already had cried and that made the anxiety with the children only worse.

"Well honey," Stef started.

"They haven't found her yet, but everyone is taking it very serious. There are officers on the street looking for her and following every lead. The best people are on it. There will be some detectives coming over in a while to ask us all some questions. Is that allright with you guys?" Stef asked them.

"Bullshit, you know more then you are telling us!"

For a moment Mike thought it was Jesus that screamed, or maybe even Brandon. It wasn't, it was Jude, Jude who was usually very quiet and more to himself. The young boy looked suddenly more like an old man hiding inside the body of a small boy. He probably knew this world all to well. He probable has seen to many things in his young life to believe there would be a happy ending to this story. And Mike hated to admit it, but his gut told him nothing better. Lena stepped forward to Jude and sat with him. For a moment Stef and Lena glanced at each other before Lena started to speak.

"There isn't much to tell, other then that her backpack was found. We don't know more then that, but maybe the detectives can tell us a bit more when they come over. It won't be long I think." Lena said.

Jude returned to be the quiet boy, all to himself and staring at his hands. Brandon however was nervously drumming his fingers on the ground where he sat. There was something on his son's mind that was bothering him, beside the disappearance of Callie, and it worried him. He knew however, that his son was not going to talk right now. He would just have to keep an eye on him.

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Andrew Brody parked his car in front of the Foster residence and turned the ignition off. It was a quiet street with family houses on both sides. The Foster residence looked like a beautiful family home, where a peaceful family should live in. Brody found cases involving children always difficult. Especially if the victim was the same age as one of his children he found it harder. But knowing the family and have seen the girl at the station before, made it all the worse for him. He didn't knew Stef very well, but he knew she was a great police officer and a woman with a big heart. She not only took care of her own son, but fostered and adopted 4 other children. He found it difficult enough to care for his two children, let alone 5. He had seen Callie once at the station with her mom when Stef needed to pick something up. He hadn't talked to her but he remembered the way Stef was with that young girl. Everyone knew that her newly foster daughter came from a rough place and it was amazing to see how she looked up at her new foster mother, almost as if it was her own biological mother. There was definitely a strong bond between those two. It was that, with all the other reasons why he dreaded to knock on the door and inform them about their newest discovery. As his partner stepped out of the car he followed him with reluctance and walked over to the door.  
They didn't need to knock or ring the doorbell, Stef openend it even before they had reached the patio.

"Come in." was all she said and she walked over to what seemed to be the kitchen. Her wife Lena was already there and looked in anticipation towards the two detectives.

"Please just tell us everything you have found out so far." The cop in front of him pleaded.

"No chitchat, we need to know what is going on." Stef said.

Informing family or informing family who are with the force was always completely different, so he complied and just told them what they had discovered.

"Okay Stef, why don't we take a seat first." Brody replied.

Everyone sat down and his partner quickly took 2 bottles of water that were standing on the counter and put them on the table in front of the women.

"As you know we had picked up a last signal from Callie's phone and we went to check out that location. We had the help from other officers and we soon found Callie's backpack in an alley close to where her last signal was. So far we haven't found any traces on the backpack, no blood or anything like that, so that is the good news. We thought maybe it was Callie herself who threw away her backpack. However, we kept looking and we turned the alley upside down. That is when we found a syringe." Brody told them. Both women gasped and they were trying to keep themselves together while he continued.

"It looked like it was used only hours ago. We send the syringe to the lab for DNA and to identify the content. They are working on it right now. But we also found something on the main street not far from the alley and we want to show it to you to see if you recognize it." Andrew Brody told them while he pulled out his phone to show them a picture. On the picture were two navy green, old and worn down shoes. As soon as he showed the picture to Stef and Lena he didn't need to hear more. They were Callie's.  
Lena's hand went over to Stef, who found it and took it in her own hands. Their faces, who were already pale, turned another shade lighter and new tears made their appearance while they nodded their confirmation.  
It was Stef who spoke the first.

"So, ehm, what does this mean. I mean, what do you think that happened?" Her trembled voice asked. Brody sighed, how different it felt to tell a cop bad news, how much the same the reactions were. Right now Stef wasn't a cop, right now Stef was the mother of a victim.

"If, and I mean only if the syringe was used on Callie, than we can presume that Callie is abducted. It doesn't look like there was any violence in the alley other then the possibility of being drugged." Brody carefully stated.

"You know very well that in those cases the vicim often knows the abductor. And in case the victim is a child, it is usually a relative. With a teenager there are also love affairs to reconsider" Brody reminded her.

"So what I am going to ask you two, is to make a list of every person you know and write their relation with Callie behind their names. In the mean time, if it is okay with the both of you, we would like to talk to your other children. We would like to talk especially with Brandon since the ice cream place wasn't far from the street where we found her shoes. He most likely is the last person who saw her." Brody finished and looked over towards his partner who shook his head in agreement.

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Stef walked over to the living room where Mike and the children were still waiting. Lena was looking for some papers and pens so everyone could make list. They didn't want to forget any person, so she thought it would be for the best if everyone helped.  
Brody and Miller wanted to speak with Brandon first which she understood. She just wished that she knew what else was on her sons mind and what it was about the dent in the car. Her kids were very good in hiding important stuff so they wouldn't get into trouble. She could only hope he was smart enough to tell every little detail that he knew and remembered.

"Hey guys." Stef greeted her kids.

"Detective Brody and Miller would like to ask you guys some questions. They need to see the whole picture and maybe you guys have seen something without knowing it." Stef told them. She hoped they weren't scared talking to the cops alone. Detective Brody and Miller thought it for the best if Stef and Lena weren't there while they talked to them one by one.

"Brandon, why don't you go first." Stef addressed her oldest.

"Come, I walk with you to the kitchen." She said when it appeared he wasn't going to stand up.

He did stand up, even though he took his time. There was a pained look on his face and Stef's heart broke. She knew he would blame himself. Just before they stepped into the kitchen she pulled her son towards her and gave him a hug.

"Just answer their questions and tell them all you know, okay love?" Stef said. Brandon just nodded and with a sad face he stepped into the kitchen.

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 **Let me know what you think, tomorrow I will post chapter 5.**


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